A blog about interestingness

Tag Archives: architecture

The movie industry is inherently wasteful. Their job is to recreate something in every small detail, shoot it, and then throw it away. High production value depends on props being new, recreations being authentic, and materials being cheap–but not cheap looking. From the disposable food containers used on set to the costumes on the actors’ backs, film is simply wasteful. That’s why I got really excited when I heard about “Filmport”:http://www.filmport.ca/, a new ecologically-sound megastudio under construction in Toronto.

http://www.thestar.com/article/287989")
Of course, big ideas are never without critics and Filmport studio complex is no exception. The "main complaints":http://www.readingt.readingcities.com/index.php/toronto/comments/12115/ seem to be about the nature of the architecture and the financial feasibility of the project as a whole. As far as the economics are concerned I couldn't say, but the main building itself... Well, see for yourself:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/12/new_film_studio.php" for the catch.

Leave it to the Dutch to make this amazing piece of “student housing”:http://www.tempohousing.com/projects/keetwonen.html out of old shipping containers. The company, called Keetwonen makes these 40 square meter rooms with running water, internet and sexy style. Just another reason to think about moving to the Netherlands.

Maybe it’s too little to late, but as Mr. Pitt said in his phone interview with the New York Times, “they’re coming up on their third Christmas… people are needing to get back in their homes.” Pledging $5 million himself, as well as commissioning 13 sustainable designs from nationally recognized architects, Brad Pitt sees himself as leading the way to a green reconstruction of the 9th Ward.

Sometimes you see something so amazing that your jaw drops and can’t be lifted back up for a few minutes. Such was my viewing of this Nintendo house, created by a fraternity at Carnegie Mellon University. Every single feature, from the Zapper staircase to the Game Boy on the side, is carefully crafted and simply a visual masterpiece.

It wasn’t long ago that do-it-yourself Swedish furniture maker IKEA didn’t dominate the world of yuppy interior design. Okay, that’s not true, IKEA has had that market cornered for a long time but it was only recently that they moved into home manufacture itself. BoKlok Homes (a partnership between IKEA and Swedish construction firm Skanska) have been building homes in Sweden for a little over ten years and are now moving to the UK. A BoKlok (Swedish for smart living) development in Gateshead has already been approved and their British partners, Smart @ Home are very optimistic about becoming “a major provider of housing in Britain.” Pictured here is the original architect’s mock-up used to get planning permission for the development.

These houses actually seem pretty cool, they are all prefabricated pieces that can be assembled in a day cutting down in a big way on the waste associated with on-site construction. In addition to being less polluting on-site, BoKlok houses are also made of sustainable and durable materials. Perhaps most importantly, these houses are going to be filling a sorely-missed niche in the British housing market as property prices all over the country have soared astronomically in the past decade leaving most low-income families with very few options.

Not that there was any chance of it being voted off. With the “Pirate Party”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party and “Billie the Vision and the Dancers”:http://duenos.net/article/26/billie-the-vision-and-the-dancers Stockholm is still my favorite city-I’ve-not-been-to, but here’s another reason why, the subway. In most cities, the underground transportation network is a necessary evil, a utilitarian piece of infrastructure used to get around and not much more. But in Sweden’s capital city, the subway is so much more. It’s a work of art. Here’s a “link”:http://archibase.net/archinews/14172.html to a gallery of gorgeous pictures from Archibase.net showing polished Scandinavian escalators running along rough cave walls and painted murals that could almost make you cry with envy. And it’s all so clean too…